1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to authoring systems and methods for creating data in accordance with a predetermined scenario. In particular, the present invention relates to an authoring system and method for creating consecutive commands and data that describe predetermined action patterns, and to a storage medium used therewith. Specifically, the present invention relates to an authoring system and method that create action patterns by using a set of components defining action statuses of a robot, and in particular, to an authoring system and method that create action patterns by using each component displayed on a computer display.
2. Description of the Related Art
A machine that uses electric or magnetic operations to perform movements imitating the action of a human is called a xe2x80x9crobotxe2x80x9d. It is said that the word xe2x80x9crobotxe2x80x9d is derived from the Slavic word xe2x80x9crobotaxe2x80x9d (slave machine). In Japan, it was in the 1960s that robots came into wide use. Many of the robots were industrial robots for the purpose of automating factories, such as manipulators and transfer robots.
Recently, in research and development of legged mobile robots such as pet robots which imitate the body mechanism and action of quadrapedal-walking animals such as cat and dog, or humanoid robots which imitate the body mechanism and action of bipedal orthograde living things, such as human and monkey, and in research and development of stable walking control of the legged mobile robots, much progress has been made and practical use of the legged mobile robots is greatly expected. Compared with crawler robots, the legged mobile robots are unstable and it is difficult to control posture and walking by the legged robots. However, the legged mobile robots are preferable in that they are able to perform flexible walking and running actions, such as going-up/down of the stairs and getting-over of an obstacle.
Stationary robots that are installed in particular locations for use, such as arm robots, are used within fixed and local work spaces for assembling and selecting components. Conversely, mobile robots are used in non-limited work spaces. Each of the mobile robots can perform predetermined or arbitrary human work by freely moving on or out of a predetermined path, and can provide various services in which the mobile robot replaces a human, a dog, or another living thing.
One use of the legged mobile robots is to perform, for a human, various types of difficult work in industrial and production activities, etc. For example, the legged mobile robots perform dangerous work and difficult work such as maintenance operations in atomic power plants, thermal power plants, or petrochemical plants, component-carrying-and-assembling operations in manufacturing factories, cleaning for high buildings, and rescue in the scenes of fires.
Another use of the legged mobile robots is to attend on people rather than to support the above types of work, that is, xe2x80x9ccoexistencexe2x80x9d with people or xe2x80x9centertainmentxe2x80x9d. Robots of this type emulate the action mechanism of a legged walking living thing having relatively high intelligence, such as human or dog (as a pet) and various quadrapedal expressions of feelings. It is required that the robots of this type not only faithfully execute pre-input action patterns, but also enable vivid responsive expressions in response to human""s words and attitudes (e.g., praising, scolding, slapping, etc.).
In conventional amusement machines, the relationship between an operation by a user and a responsive action is fixed, so that the action by the machine cannot be changed so as to match user""s preference. As a result, the user come to get tired of the machine since it repeats the same action.
Conversely, intelligent robots have action-caused models. By changing the model based on input information from the exterior, such as sound, images, and tactile sensation so that the action is determined, each intelligent robot realizes autonomous thought and control of action. By preparing a feeling model or an instinct model, the robot can exhibit an autonomous action which matches the feeling and instinct of the robot itself. The robot includes an image input device and a sound input/output device and performs image-recognition processing and sound-recognition processing, whereby realistic communication with the human is realized in high intelligent level.
In addition, by providing the robot with a function of changing the model in response to detection of an external stimulus such as an operation by the user, that is, xe2x80x9clearning effectxe2x80x9d, the robot can provide an action pattern which makes the user get tired or which matches user""s preference.
A recent type of legged mobile robot can be regarded as a type of computer system because it has high ability to process information. Therefore, an action pattern realized in the robot, or a high-level and consecutive action sequence, formed by a combination of a plurality of basic action patterns, is formed by performing operations similar to those in computer programming.
It is expected that as the number of robots in use increases, the robots will come into wide use not only in the industry but also in ordinary households and everyday life. In particular, concerning entertaining products, cases are expected in which ordinary consumers having no high-level knowledge on the computer and computer programming will purchase robots for their use. Also to the ordinary consumers as ordinary users, preferably, a tool for supporting relatively easy and efficient creation and editing of a robot-action sequence through interactive processing, that is, an authoring tool is provided.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an authoring system and method for creating consecutive commands and data which describe predetermined action patterns of a robot, and a storage medium used with the system and method.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an authoring system and method in which a set of components defining action statuses of a robot is used to create action patterns, and a storage medium used with the system and method.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an authoring system and method in which an arrangement of components displayed on a computer display is used to create action patterns, and a storage medium used with the system and method.
To these ends, according to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided an authoring system for creating and editing an action-control program for controlling the action of a robot, the authoring system. The authoring system includes an editing unit which provides a user with a work site for creating and editing a scenario concerning the action of the robot, and a converting unit which converts the scenario into a program code interpretable by the robot.
Preferably, the editing unit provides the user with components representing frequently used action statuses and processing routines or models thereof, and an operation screen on which by using a coordinate designating device to send instructions, each of the components is selectively arranged.
The editing unit may provide the user with an environment for creating and editing a script having the form of a predetermined programming language.
The converting unit may convert an action scenario represented by an arrangement of components and/or an action scenario described in the form of a script into a mnemonic code which can be interpreted by the robot.
The authoring system may further include a communication unit for transferring the program code to the robot.
The communication unit may perform radio data communication with the robot.
The communication unit may extract the program code step by step and may transfer the extracted program code to the robot.
The communication unit may transfer the program code in an encrypted form.
The robot includes an interpretation unit which interprets the program code transmitted by the communication unit, and a driving-control unit which drives the robot in accordance with the result of interpretation by the interpretation unit.
The interpretation unit in the robot may interpret and execute the transmitted program code in units of steps.
Preferably, the robot stores posture-transition-limiting information on each action and each posture which can directly be changed from the present status of the robot and on each posture which can be changed through an action and a posture, and based on the posture-transition-limiting information, the driving-control unit converts the content of the program code into a form which enables transition of posture.
Preferably, the posture-transition-limiting information is stored in the form of a directed graph composed of nodes representing possible postures of the robot and action arcs which each link two nodes having a possible transition therebetween, and the driving-control unit searches the directed graph and converts the content of the program code into a form which enables transition of posture.
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an authoring method for creating and editing an action-control program for controlling the action of a robot. The authoring method includes an editing step which provides a user with a work site for creating and editing a scenario concerning the action of the robot, and a converting step which converts the scenario into a program code interpretable by the robot.
Preferably, the editing step provides the user with components representing frequently used action statuses and processing routines or models thereof, and an operation screen on which by using a coordinate designating device to send instructions, each of the components is selectively arranged.
The editing step may provide the user with an environment for creating and editing a script having the form of a predetermined programming language.
The converting step may convert an action scenario represented by an arrangement of components and/or an action scenario described in the form of a script into a mnemonic code which can be interpreted by the robot.
The authoring method may further include a communication step for transferring the program code to the robot.
The communication step may perform radio data communication with the robot.
The communication step may extract the program code step by step and may transfer the extracted program code to the robot.
The communication step may transfer the program code in an encrypted form.
The robot may include an interpretation step which interprets the program code transmitted in the communication step, and a driving-control step which drives the robot in accordance with the result of interpretation in the interpretation step.
The interpretation step may interpret and execute the transmitted program code in units of steps.
Preferably, the robot stores posture-transition-limiting information on each action and each posture which can directly be changed from the present status of the robot and on each posture which can be changed through an action and a posture, and based on the posture-transition-limiting information, the driving-control step converts the content of the program code into a form which enables transition of posture.
Preferably, the posture-transition-limiting information is stored in the form of a directed graph composed of nodes representing possible postures of the robot and action arcs which each link two nodes having a possible transition therebetween, and the driving-control step searches the directed graph and converts the content of the program code into a form which enables transition of posture.
According to a further aspect of the present invention, there is provided a storage medium physically containing, in a computer-readable form, computer software described so as to control a computer system to execute authoring processing for creating and editing an action-control program for controlling the action of a robot. The computer software includes an editing step which provides a user with a work site for creating and editing a scenario concerning the action of the robot, and a converting step which converts the scenario into a program code interpretable by the robot.
Preferably, the editing step provides the user with components representing frequently used action statuses and processing routines or models thereof, and an operation screen on which by using a coordinate designating device to send instructions, each of the components is selectively arranged.
The editing step may provide the user with an environment for creating and editing a script having the form of a predetermined programming language.
The converting step may convert an action scenario represented by an arrangement of components and/or an action scenario described in the form of a script into a mnemonic code which can be interpreted by the robot.
The computer software may further include a communication step for transferring the program code to the robot.
The storage medium provided according to the further aspect of the present invention is a medium that physically provides computer software in a computer-readable form a computer system capable of executing various program codes. The medium is a removable and portable medium such as a compact disk, a floppy disk, or a magneto-optical disk. Also, it is technically possible to provide computer software in a computer-readable form to a specified computer system via a transmission medium such as a wired or wireless network.
In the above storage medium, a cooperative relationship in structure or function between predetermined computer software and the storage medium, which is required to implement the functions of the computer software in a computer system, is defined. In other words, by installing predetermined computer software in a computer system through the storage medium provided according to the further aspect of the present invention, the computer system exhibits cooperative operation, whereby operation and advantages similar to those in the authoring system and method provided according to the aspects of the present invention can be obtained.
According to the present invention, an authoring system and method for creating consecutive commands and data which describe predetermined action patterns of a robot can be provided, and a storage medium used therewith can be provided.
According to the present invention, an authoring system and method can be provided in which a set of components defining action statuses of a robot is used to create action patterns, and a storage medium used therewith can be provided.
According to the present invention, an authoring system and method can be provided in which an arrangement of components displayed on a computer display is used to create action patterns, and a storage medium used therewith can be provided.
Further objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of the preferred embodiment with reference to the attached drawings.